Art and apparatus for making storage-battery grids



g T. s. COLE ART AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING STORAGE BATTERY GRIDS FiledAug. 23. 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 g T. s. coLE ART AND APPARATUS FOR MAKINGSTORAGE BATTERY GRIDS 2 AShee Filed 25, 1923 MKM nol vReferring nowPatented ug. 16, 1927.

UNITED STATES APATENT AOFFICE,

'rnnononn s. 001.171,'. orf.-jNEW,HAvEN, CONNECTICUT, AssIGNoR 'ro THESAFETY CAR HEA'rrNe' a. LIGnf-.rING' COMPANY, A CORPORATION or NEWJERSEY.

Aar AND ArrAnA'rUs ron` MAKING STORAGE-BATTERY earns.

Application liled August 23, 1923. Serial No. 658,887.

y This invention relates to storage battery plates and more particularlyto an art and ap aratus for making storage battery plates. ne of theobjects of thisvinvention is to provide a simple and practical method ofmaking grids for plates for storage or secnondary batteries andparticularly for batteries of the lead type. Another object is to'provide aamethod of making grids for stor-4 agebattery plates adaptedparticularly for the formation thereon of active material by the PlanteJmethod. -Another object is to provide an art of the above character thatmay' be carried on inexpensively and reliably and with highl.practicable results. This invention -aims so to provide simple,practical and eflicient apparatus for making storage battery grids orplates. Another ob# ject is to provide apparatus of the above characterof simple and reliable operation.

Other objects .will be in part obvious or in part pointed outhereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the combinations of elements`arrangements of '35 parts, features of construction,

, several steps and order and relation of each of the same to one ormore of the others, all

as will be illustratively hereinafter described,

and the scope ofthe ap lication of which will be indicated in theollowing claims.

l In the accompanying drawings, in which is shown one of variousposs1ble embodiments 'of lthis invention,

gig-ure 1 is a plan view of the apparatus;

Figure 2 isa sectional view of the same taken along the line 2-2ofFig. 1. A Figure 3 is a detached fragmentary elevation on an enlargedscale of a pairof acting cutting toolsv forming part of the pparatusshown in Figs. 1 and 2 to show the construction more clearly; and

Figure 3a is a diagrammatic representation of a set of cutting tools.

Figure 4 is ya plan view on an enlarged scale of a completed grid orplate.V

Similar reference characters refer to simi lar parts-throughout theseveral views )of the drawings.

particularly to Figs. 1 and 2, there is shown a main frame'lO rovided atits upper portion with the tab e 11 extending longitudinally thereof andadapted to support thereon the several operative mechanisms of the andinthe to the drawings and moreV apparatus. -At one end 4of the frame 10,as at the left-hand end, are a pair of arms 12 and 13 adapted to supportat their outer ends,

as by means of the shaft 14, a roll 15 of sheet metal, preferably oflead of characteristics suitable for use in storage batteries ofthe leadtype. `The sheet lead is preferably of a vthickness equivalent to thatwhich it is dehave, as will be more clearly hereinafter set forth. t

vAdjacent the left-hand end of the main' frame 10 there is mounted uponthe supporting table 11, as by thebolts 16, the bed or base portion 17of a flattening press,\the u per surface of the bed 17 bein suitably pane-surfaced. Cooperating -wit the bed 17 of the flattening r'ess is apress member 18 movable vertical y or toward or away from the bed 17 inthe ways 19 and 2O provided in the vertical guiding arms 21 and 22respectively. The vertically extending arin 22 is provided at its upperend Iwith bearings 23 and 24 within which is support.-

ed an operating shaft or bar 25 extending 7' longitudinally of themachine and substanj tially to the other end thereof so that other*operating mechanisms, as more clearly hereinafter set forth, may also`be operated from connected at its lower end to the press'memc ber 18.The bed 17 of the flatteningpress and the pressmember 18 are preferab yof such a length in the longitudinal direction of the machine ascorresponds substantially to the length desired to give the completedgrid and, as willbe clearly seen -from F1 2,l the sheet lead 15 suppliedfromvthe rol 15, is fed or guided longitudinally ofthe frame 10v andpasses first over the bed117 of the flattening press, roller 28V beingadapted to guide thefsheet from the roll 15 to Suitable echanism isprovided for givi ing the sha t 25 a slightv rotation in the ion' llt)

a suitably mounted.

the several mechanisms. Y

direction of the arrow a (see Fig. 2) in order to move the press member18 downwardly toward the bed 17, in order therebyl to flatten out andstraighten a sufficient length of the sheet 15a subsequently to beoperated on. The irregularities in the sheet l5a are thus removed and auniform action of the subsequently operated mechanisms is assured. lnthe lower part of the main frame l0 and preferably at the left-hand endthereof there is suitably journaled a main driving shaft 29 having atits one outer end the ti ht fand loose pulleys 30 and 31 thrufrh w ichthe apparatus may be connectef and ldisconnected from a suitable sourceof driving power. At vthe other 'outer end of the shaft 29 there ismounted a bevel gear 32 adapted to mesh with and drive the bevel gear 33mounted upon the longitudi. nally extending shaft 34 supported in bear-Aings 35 and 36 fdrmed in arms37 and 38 respectively and suitably securedto the exterior lateral portions of the main frame 10. At the otherend'of the shaft 34 is mounted a bevel driving ear 39 adapted to meshwith and drive a` evel gear 40 mounted upon the shaft 41 suitablyjournaled in the main. frame 10 and at substantially the right-hand endthereof. The bevel gears'32 and 33 and 39 and 40may conveniently beproportioned with respect to one another so that a substantial reductionin the nspeed of rotation ofuthe shaft 41 as compared' with the maindriving shaft 29 is attained.

Upon the shaft 41 and at the rear of the main frame 10 as viewed in Fig.1`there is mounted a cam 42 shaped substantially as shown in Fig. 2, itbeing noted that the cam 42 is substantially circular throughout v themajor portion of its periphery excepting for the raised portion 43 whichis preferably of small circumferential extent.

At theJ rear of the main frame 10 and ex tendingve'rtically insubstantial alignment with the cam shaft41 is the cam rod 44 slidablysupported in the arms 45 suitably secured to the lateral portion of themain( frame 10. At the lower end ofthe cam rod 44 is mounted the roller46 adapted to coopf erate withthe cam 42. The cam rod 44 is connectedthrough vthe turn buckle 47 to the `outer end of a lever 48 mounted uponthe operating shaft ,or bar 25 so that for each revolution of the shaft41 and its associated cam 42, the cam rod 44 will be moved upwardly bythe raised cam surface 43 to swing the shaft 25 inthe direction .fofuthe arrow 25a. The press member 18 is thus moved downwardly upon thebed or table 17 to straighten out the sheet 15a, the turn buckle 47,permittingthe adjustment of the degree of movement of Athe press member18 toward the table 17 for different thicknesses of sheet metal operatedupon. The turn buckle 47V also permits the degree of pres.

sure with which the attenn'g out operation takes place to be adjusted atwill.

lAdjacent the flattening press members 17-18 there is mounted upon thebed 11 of thev main frame-10 an auxiliary framemember 49 formed at itsupper portion into a chamber v50 within which is supported a v pluralityof rotary cutting tools 51 suitably Journaled in the side portions'oftheauxiliary frame 49o andsuitably and preferably -equally spaced from oneanother. Another frame member `52 is superimposed upon the auxiliarframe 49 and is held in spaced relation t erefrom, as will be moreclearly hereinafter set forth, the complement-'ary frame member 52having journaled therein a like plurality of rotary cutting tools 53each cutting tool, as 53 for example, comprises a plurality .ofcutters53a whose side `eacli Iadapted to coact with one of the rotarycutting edges, as 53, are preferably substanl tially semicircular sothat when vthe sheet` metal 15'3L is fed 1between the cutters 51 and 53of each'pair, as will bemore clearly hereinafter set forth, the rotarycutting tool 53 will remove portions of the metal from one side of thesheet 15* and preferably to a depthequal to substantially one-half thethiclmess of the/ sheet, .and the cutting tool 51, will besimultaneouslyoperative to remove from the other side of the sheet'portions of thesheet complementary to those vOrtidns removed b the cuttingtool 53, iteing understood, o course, that the cutting tools 'of each pair arealigned with respect to one another so that the side cutting .edges 53?.of one cutter are in substantial registryl with the side'cutting edgesof the other cuttin tool of the pair. Thus, as the sheet 15 is edbetween 'a pair of coacting cutting tools, there will be formed ormilled in the sheet a plurality of spaced bars yof substantiallycircular cross sectionv and integral with the sheet; as will be clearlyseen from Fig. 3 'of the drawings.

' prefer, however, to arrange the cutting tools 51 in the frame 49 andthe cutting' tools 53 in the frame 52 in such manner that the cuttingteeth of each cuttin tool 51 and 53', which teeth aref re'ferablyaligned or arran ed in rows in eac cuttin tool, are displace an larlyfrom the teet of teeth of t e remainin cutting tools. In

Fig. 3 I- have illustrate diagrammatically .es indicated in Fig. 3.

stood, of course, that the cutting tools. 53 in 1,ese,e41

teeth. or tworows of teeth of the cutter isa,

the second cutter 51 is angularly displaced with respect to the first byan angle a2 which is one-fifth of the angle a, Likewise, the thirdcutter 51 is displaced angularly with respect to the first by an anglea3 which is two-fifths as. great as the angle a,`the 'ref mainingcutters 51'being similarly displaced,

It will be underthe frame 52 are similarly displaced.

As the sheet metal 15a is ted between the plurality of pairs of cutters,it will be seen that by the angular displacement above described onlyone tooth or row of teeth is at any given instant operative upon the'sheet, the teeth or rows of teeth acting successively rather thansimultaneously.A It being 'understood thatthe sheet metal 15a is usuallyof lead, it will be seen that the resistance to the feeding actio Ais bythe above'arrange-y ment greatly decre sed, thus avoiding possibledistortion of t,e sheet through excessive `stresses placegl' thereon bytension and thus also permitting a greater rate ofv feed.

The complementary frame member 52 in which the upper rotary cuttingtools. 53 of the several pairs are mounted is movable toward or awayfrom the auxiliary frame 49 in which the lowerrotary cutters 51 arejournaled in order thatthe cutting tools 53 of the several pairs may beseparated from their respective enacting-,cutters 51 thereby tointerrupt the cut-tin action yof thet coacting cutting tools.V

is supported upon two pairs of supporting posts 54 and 55 respectivelyat the left-hand and right-hand ends) ofthe com plementary frame 52. Theposts 54 and 55 are slidably supported, as'at 56, in .suitable sleevessuita ly secured to the main frame 10 and each of the osts 54 and 55 isprovided with a nut 57 a apted to support the post and hence thecomplementary-frame 52 upon the sleeves 56, a spring 58 upon each postinterposed between the sleeve 56 and a second nut 59 upon the postsserving to maintain the supporting posts and the complementary frame 52in their lowermost position. The nuts 57 may be ladjust-ed to determinethe extent of movement of the `gitudinal direction.

hus it will bel seen that the' complementary frame 52.

complementary frame 52 with its associated cutters 53 toward theauxiliary frame 49 with its' associated rotary cutters 51. The nuts 59may also 'be moved along the supportin rods to increase or decrease thetension o the springs 58 thereby to determine the Iforce with which thecomplementary frame 52 is heldin -coactingrelation with the auxiliaryframe 4 9.

At the lower ends of the supporting rods 54 and 55 are vsuitablyjournaled the rollers 604 and 61, respectively, vadapted to coact withthe cam bars 62, there being one-'cam bar slidably mounted upon theexterior .and

at eachl side of the main frame 10.- vSuitable guides 63 support the cambars 62 and guide the cam bars 62 during their travel in a lonconnecteda link 64 at the distant end of each of'which is pivotally connected alever 65 pivotally mounted upon a stud 66 in the main frame IO andhavingmounted intermediate its ends a caml roller 67 Iadapted to engage thecam groove 68 of the cam 69 mounted upon the^ shaft 41. During 'therotation of the shaft 41 in a clockwise direction as viewed inv Fig. 2,the cam groove 68 is adapted to swing the lever 65 in, accordancewith'its shape and to move the cam bar 62 longitudinally of the .mainframe 10. As seen in Fig. 2, the cam bar 62 is in its maximum positionto the right and upon `upon the raised portions 6210i the cam bars Toeach cam bar 62 is 62 thereby to separate the cutting tools of each pairand thus to discontinue the cut? ting actionI thereof.. l

Each rotary cutting tool v51 is yprovided with a gear 51a upon its shaftand exterior of the auxiliary frame 49 adapted to mesh with a gear 53ccoacting cutting tool of the same pair. The shaft ot' the rotary cuttingtool 510i lone of the pairs of cutting tools, as for example the pairfarthest to the left as viewed in the drawings, has its shaftextende'd,as will be seen in Fig. 1, to support a driving pulley 70' adapted to bedriven by the belt 71 from the ulley i2 mounted upon the main drivingshaft 29. An intermediate idler gear 73 is interposed between the gears53c of the upper4 rotary cutting tool 53 to transmitI the rotary drivingtorque .from the first pair of cutting tools successively to the severalsuccause the cutting action to be discontinued,

these gears are not disengaged or thrown out ofI mesh vvlth one anotherbut may continue their driving operation, the degree of4 separatingmovement being comparatively small.

mounted on the shaft of the izo ' of rotary cuttingtools 51-53.' Theunder side of the auxlliary frame 49 is conven- .iently formed as at 49ato collect the lubricating fluid and return the same through the oftravel of the carriage 77, the latter taking pipe 76c to the-pump 74.

vImmediately to the ri ht of the several' setsof rotary cutting too sthere is slidably mounted in ways 10a formed on the inside of the mainframe 10 aa carriage 77 having` formed at its left-hand end averticallyextending tlat-topped post 77a whose upper surface is `substantially inthe plane of actilon of the several pairs of rotary cutting too s.projecting lugs 77b (see Fig. 1) vadapted to support the rod 77c uponwhich ispivotally mounted the jaw member 77d, whose under surface is ofsubstantially the same expanse as that of the upper surface of the post77 l As-will be seen in Fig. 1 of thedrawings, vthe post 77@ and itscoacting jaw member. 77b

' areu of a width substantiallyequal to the" width of the sheet 15intended ated upon. 'f .v

A pair of arms 77e integrally formed with the jaw member 477d extenddownwardly and inwardly and areconnecte'd at their lower endsiby thecrossv bar 77g. Springs 78 are connected. at the upper endsl to the bar77g `to be operand at their lower ends lto the carriage 77,

' nected one end of a connectin and normally Jeend to urge the jawmember .7 7 d in av clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 2, thus tocause the jaw 77d to be moved againstithe under side of the cossbar 77.l

ITo the lower end of the' lever 79 is conrod 82, the other end of whichis connecte .to the crank pin 83 of a crank 84 convenintly formed insubstantially the centralportiom of the cam shaft 41 hereinbefor'eescribed. The

The post' 77 has a pair of laterallylever 79 extends througha suitableslot 7 9a in the carriage 77, ther right-hand wall of A which mayconveniently limit the swinging' movement of the lever 79 in a clockwisdirection as viewed in Fig. 2.

Considering now the control of the gripping action of the jaw 77d, itwill be seen that when the crank 84 is rotated in a clockwise direction,thus tending to movethe carriage 77 to the right, the lever 79 will beswung in acounter-clockwise direction whence its upper end will bear aainst the cross bar 77g to cause the jaw 7d to be swung downwardly uponthe post 77`and to grip securely :the sheet 15a therebetween. The sheet15a will thus be moved or fed to the right throughout the stroke orlength place throughout substantially 180 of rotary travel of the crank84 from the position shown in Fig. 2.' During the lfirst. v

portion of this feeding, action the rotary cutting tools 53 will be ineoac'ting relation with respect to the lower cutting tools 51, theroller 67 of thevlever 65 being engaged by Ithe depressed portion 68a ofthe cam groove 68so that each pair 51-53 of cutting tools is effectiveto cut a single set of longitudi,

nallyex'tending bars each integral with the sheet and'spaced from oneanother. This cutting action is continued until the sheet 15"*- is fedforward throughout a 'distance somewhat less than the spacing betweenadjacent pairs of cuttingtools, at which time the roller 67 engages theraised portion 68b of the cam groove 68 and causes a movement to theleft of the lcam bar 62 to take place, 4

thereby to separate the cutters of each pair and to discontinue thecutting action thereof.

It will be understood that during the feeding of the sheet 15a 'and theaction thereon of the cuttin tools S1-53, the teeth continues, however,and its stroke is preferably equivalent to substantially lthe lengthintendedl to .give each completed grid, As the crank 84 begins toret-urnthe carria e 77 to its initial position, the lever 79 wil beswung in a clockwise direction, whence its upper end 81 will becomedisengaged from the cross bar 775,-, thus permitting the springs 78 tomove the jaw 77d into disengaging position or away from the post 77a.The carriage 77 may thus be returned to itsv initial position, as shownin Fig. 2, during which return travel the jaws are effec tively held inopen or 'disengaging position. As the carriage 7 7 feeds the sheet 15*to the right, tne cut-portions thereof are passed through a housing 85and between a pair of rotary brushes 86 and 87. Theshaft 86of the brush86 hasy mounted upon it a pulley 86" which is adapted to be driven bymeans of the belt' 86C from a pulley 86dl conveniently mounted upon theshaft 75 of' the pump 74 hereinbefore described. The shaft 486* also hasmounted upon it a gear 869 brush 87. The pump'88 supplies the brushes 86and 87 through a pipe 89 with a suitable iiuid, such as,'for example, analkaline or acidic solution, a tube 90 connecting Lthe lower part of thehousing85 with the pump 88 to return the iluid 4to the pump. The brushes86 and 87 may conveniently take the form ofrelatively stiff bristlebrushes or r cutting operationof the several sets of cut-` wire brushesand are effective as the cut sheet a' is passed therebetween to removetherefrom the chips and oil or other lubri eating uid and with 'theaction `of the alkaline solution thoroughly cause the scrubbing of the'cut sheet lead to take place so that it is thoroughly'cleansed andfreed from the oil. g F

As will bev 'seen from the foregoing de- Scription, the sheet 15.a ispreferably fed forward Lintermittentlyl throughout a distancesubstantially equivalent'to the length which it is desired to give thecompleted grid. As the continued movement has been completed, the camportion 43 of vthe cam hereinbefore described. Atthe upper end of thesupporting arm 94#z is a pair of bearings 94"i within which the otherend of the shaft isl supported, the latter having mounted thereon andbetween the bearings 94d an operating lever 95 connected to the upunch92 by means of 'the link 96. Thus it will be seenthat during the pausein the forward movement or feed of the sheet '15 the iatteningl press17'18 is operative to straighten and flatten a section of the sheet15'@lv preliminary to the cutting operation thereon and thatsubstantially simultaneously the blanking press 91- -92 is madeoperative to cut off from the already formed or milled sheet 151 a.section thereof equiva-- lent toqthe shape' desired to give the'completed grid. It might also be noted that the blanking press 91-92 mayconveniently trimltlie edges of the completed grid in that thefgrids ascutby the blanking` press are preferably of@ slightly less width thanlthe width of the sheet '15a' fed to the apparatus. The milled grids cutby the blanking press may conveniently be received on the 'table l1, kasat 15e, underneath the press. l

'I n Fig. 4 is shown in plan a grid on an enlarged scale in completedform. It will be seen thatthere are provided a plurality of spaced bars15" in spaced relation from one another to form a transversely extendingset of bars, as 15 for example, and 'that invproviding a plurality ofmilling or cutv ting tools adapted to operate preferably simultaneouslyupon the sheet throughout a distanceV less than the spacing between thecutting tools there is formed a plurality of sets 15 of bars 15", thesets 15c being spaced longitudinally fromy one another to providetransversely'extending reinforcing bars 15.d between adjacent sets ofbars. The'blanking 42 is effective to cause a, slight rotary movespressmembers 91-92 are preferably dimenment olA the shaft 25 to take placethus to\ cause the press member 18 to. be swung downwardly toward thepress bed l17 and to iiatten or straighten outa section of the tingtools. The punch 92 is guided in its travel -vertically bymeans ofsuitable ways 93 formed in the supporting arms 94b and 94, theconstruction being preferably substantiallysimilar .to that-employed inthe supporting and guiding arms 21 and 22 in,v

connection with the flattening pressl 17--18 sioned so that, whenoperative to cut off a grid, a' marginal ortion 15g extending around.thegrid is'a so provided.

Moreover, it will be noted that the indi@ vidualbars `15", asmilledbythe cutters 51 and 53, are preferably of circular cross section or are'of cylindrical form whence a maxim-um surface of exposure available forformation of active material by the Plante method is 'obtained It willfurther be noted that there has beenprovided in this invention an artand x apparatus for making grids orplate members for storage batteriesin which the several objects hereinbefore -set forth are' achieved andin which many advantages are attained; It may be noted that theapparatus is of rugged construction and of posi- .tive action andoperation and is capable of a high speed of operation in the formationby cutting of the grids; The grids for the plate members, moreover,resultmg from the methodherein provided,`are of ruggedconstruction sincethe several'parts thereof ,are integral throughout and since the methodprovided according Itoithis invention permits the construction of thegrid to provide maximum rigidity and strength throughout. Thus, forexample,gas will bel seen from Fig. 4 of the drawings, the individualelements 15b are amply supported by the transversely extendingreinforcingribs 15 and, moreover, that there is provided a marginaluncut ortion 15B adapted not only to lend rigi ity and strength to thegrid, but also to provide ample cross section of metal to insure ampleelectrical conductivity. It may furthermore be noted that the gridsresulting from the method and a paratus of this ,invention arepreferably re ated to one another in sets, each of a plurality of grids,to

form a single plate unit, such for example as is described in myco-pendi'ng application, Serial No. 542,831, iiled March 11, 1922.

It may at this point also be noted that the method provided by thisinvention pormits the construction or formation of a plurality ofelements in a storage battery `grid havin a large surface available forformation t ereon of active material by the Plante method, the surfacebeingJformed in the base metal not uby a distortion of the base metalitself, but rather by a cutting of the base metal. Theresultant surfaceis thus one in which the molecular arrangement of the base metal ispractical] undisturbed and is uniform throughout .so t at when the gridis subjected to the' chemical processes of formation a hi hly uniformactive material may be forme therefrom and thereon. As many possibleembodimentsmight be made of the mechanical features of the aboveinvention and as the art herein described might be varied in variousparts, all without de arting from the, sco e.of the l grids for storagebattery plates whichfconsists. in rotating at cutting speed a rotarycuttingv tool having a plurality of spaced cutters each adapted to milla slot, feeding a sheet of lead past said rotating cuttingl tool therebyto form a plurality of bars integral with said sheet and spaced fromeach other-by the slots cut by said cutters and in intermittentlyinterruptin the cutting action of said tolol during tle feeding of saidsheet to form therein a plurality of sup orting ribs extendingtransversely to sai bars.l 5

2. The herein described art of making grids for storage battery plateswhich condescribed art of making grids for storage battery plates whichconsists in rotating -at cutting speed a plurality of spaced cuttingtools each having a plurality of spaced cutters adapted each to mill aslot. and in feeding a sheet of lead into operativ-e relationsimultaneously to said plurality of spaced cutting tools and throughouta distance less than the spacing of said plurality, of cutting tools toform in said sheet a plurality of sets of spaced bars integralf withsaid sheet.` l

4. The herein described art of making grids for storage battery plateswhich consists in rotating at cutting speed a pair of oppositelydisposed coacting cutting tools each having a plurality of spacedcutters adapted each to mill a-slot, and having the lcutters of one toolin substantial registry with the cutters of the other tool, feeding,r aLsheet of lead between said cutting tools whereby a cutter of one ofsaid tools cuts a slot in one side of said vsheet and a registeringcutter of the other tool cuts a comlementary slot in said sheet to formtherein a plurality of spacedbars integral with saidsheet, and inintermittently interi-upting the cutting action of\sai,d pairof too'lsto form in said sheet a plurality of sets of spaced bars.`

5. The herein described art of making -grids for storage battery plateswhich con- Lsists in rotating'at cutting speed a pair of oppositelyvdisposed vcoacting cutting tools. each having a plurality of spacedcutters adapted each to mill a slot, and having the cut-ters of one toolin substantial registry with the cutters of the other tool, feeding asheet of lead between said cutting tools whereby a cutter of one of saidtools cuts a' slot in one side ofsaid sheet and a registering cutter ofthe other tool\cuts a complementary slot in said sheet to form therein aplurality of spaced bars integral with said sheet, and in intermittentlyyseparating said coacting cutting tools to 'interrupt their cuttingaction on said sheet to form therein a plurality of sets of said spacedbars..V

6. The herein fdescribed art ofl making grids for storage battery plateswhich consiste in rotating a plurality bf spaced pairs of ycoactingcutting tools each havinga plurality of spaced cutters and having thecutters of one tool of-a pair in substantial registry with'the cuttersVof the other vtool of said pair, and inffeeding a sheet of lead intogrids for storage battery plates Which'con=.

sists in rotating at cutting speed a cutting tool having al plurality ofspaced cutters each adapted to mill a s'lot, feeding a substantiallycontinuous sheet of lead past said cutting tool to form therein aplurality of spaced bars integral with said sheet, interrupting thecutting act-ion of saidv tool iutermittently to form in said sheet aplurality of sets of spaced bars, and inputting said slotted-sheettozlinclude at least one set of spaced bars. o

8. In apparatus of the general nature of that herein described, incombination, a rotary cutting tool having a. plurality of spaced toothedcutters each adapted to cut a slot, means for guiding a. sheet of'metalinto operative relation to said cutting tool.

and means for causing relative movement to take -place between saidsheet and saidV cutting tool thereby to cut a -plurality of spaced slotsin said sheetand to form a plurality of spaced bars integral with sai/dsheet. v

9. Inv apparatus of the general nat-ure of that herein described, incombination, a pair of cutting tools each having a plurality of i spacedcutters, thecut'ters of one tool being in substantial registry with thecutters of theother tool, meansadapted to support a sheet of meta-lbetween said pair oftools and in operativ-e relation thereto, and meansfor 'causing relative movement of translation to take place-betweensaid. pair of cutting tools and said sheetwherebyeach of saidregistering cutters in said tools cuts away a comple'- mentaryAportionof'said sheet, each from oneside of said sheet, to form aplurality ofy spaced hars integral with said sheet.

10. Inapparatus of the general natureot` that herein described, incombination, a pair of rotating cuttingtools each having a plurality ofspaced cutters, the cutters of lone tool being in substantial registrywith the cutters ofthe other and adapted to receive therebetweena`sheet'of metal for operation thereon, meansy for causing relativemovement to take p'lace between said sheetand said cutters whereby `eachof said registering cutters cuts away a. complementary portion ot' saidsheet and each from one side of saidisheet, and means for adjusting oneof said tools toward or away from the other.

11. In apparatus of the general nature of that herein described, incombination,'a pair of cutting tools each having a plurality of`spa.ced"too`thed/ cutters, the cutters of one tool being in substantialregistry with the cutters of the other and adaptedto receivetherebetween a sheet of metal for: operation thereon,l means for causingrelative movement to take pllace between said sheet and said cutters wereby each of said registering cutters cuts away a complementary portionof said sheet and each from one side of said` sheet, and means forseparating said .pair of cutting tools to interrupt their cutting actionupon said sheet.

12. In apparatus ofy the general nature of that herein described, incombination, a

cutting tool having a plurality of spaced l toothed 'cutters eachadapted to cut a slot, means for feeding a substantially continuoussheet of metal into operative relation to said tool to permit each ofsaid cutters to cut a' slot in said sheet, and means for periodicallyinterrupting the cutting action of said tool 'thereby yto form aplurality of spaced sets of spaced bars integral with said sheet.

13. In apparatus of the general nature ofL that herein described, incombination, a pair of oppositely disposed 'coacting cutting tools eachhaving a plurality of spaced cutters, the cutters of one tool being insubstantial registry with the cutters of the other tool, means forfeeding asubstantially continuous sheet of metal between said cuttingtools to permit each of said cutters to remove a complementary portionof said sheet to form spaced integral bars therein, and means forperiodically separating said cutting tools to form unslotted port-ionsextending transversely of said sheet.

14. In apparatus of the general nature of that herein described, incombination, a plu- `rality of spaced cutting t ols each having aplurality of spaced toothe cutters adapted Ieach to cut a slot, meansfor supporting a sheet of metal in operative relation simultaneously tosaid vplurality oi cutting tools whereby each of `said cutting tools4cuts a plurality of spaced slots in said sheet to form a plurality ofspaced bars, and means for 4feeding said sheet past said plurality ofcutting tools through a distance less than the spacing betweenv `saidcutting tools thereby to form a plurality of iinslotted portionsintervening said tions.v y i 15'. In apparatus of the general nature ofplurality of slotted. pory ythat herein described, in combination, apluy rality of pairs of oppositely disposed cutting tools each having aplurality of spaced toothed cutters and each. cutting tool of each Apairhaving its cutters in substantial registry with the cutters of the othercutting tool of said pair; means for mounting said plurality v'of pairsof cutting tools in spaced relation, means for supporting a sheet of.

the spacing between said pairs of tools thereby to ormv a 'plurality ofspaced sets.,v of

spaced bars. integral with said sheet. Y

16. In apparatus of the general nature of `that herein-J described, incombination, a

cutting tooly having a plurality .of spaced cutters each adapted to cuta slot, means iorD guiding a/substantially continuous sheet intooperativerelation to said cutting tool, means ing in the direction offeed of said sheet,

- a substantially continuous sheetl of metal'- G into operative relationto said `cutting tool,

and means for'peripdically interrupting the cutting action of saidcutting tool.

. 17. In apparatus f the general nature of that herein described, incombination, a plurality of spaced cutting tools each having a pluralityofspaced -cutters adapted each to cut a slot, means for guiding asubstantially continuous sheet of metal into operative rela-tionsimultaneouslytol all of said cutting Vto'ols,'means adapted to feedsaid sheet throughout a distance less than the spacing between saidcutting tools thereby vto form in said sheet a` plurality of sets ofintegral -bars extending in the direction of feed of said sheet, meansadapted to inzterruptthe vcutting action of said -plurality of cuttingtools after. said feeding action, and, means operative upon theinterruption of said cutting action. of said cutting tools adapted tofeed said sheet throughout 'a distance substangially equivalent to therange of action of said plurality of cutting tools thereby to presenttosai-d cutting tools anew and uncut portion. of saidsubstantiallycontinuoiis sheet of metal.-

18. In apparatus -of the general natureof that herein described, incombination, a cutting tool having a yplurality lof spaced sheet alurality of sets ofispaced bars, and

mea-ns or cutting o said slotted sheet to,A

include a redetermined number of said sets of spaced ars.

20.-'In apparatus of the general nature of that herein described, incombination, a cuttin tool having a plurality of spaced cutters eacadapted .to cut a slot, means for feeding a sheet of metal intooperative rel-ation to said cutting tool thereby to form/a plurality' ofspaced bars integral with said sheet, means 'for applying a lubricant tosaid cutters during the cutting action thereof, and' means operativeupon said sheet after the cutting action of said cutters for scrubbingsaid sheet to remove saidlubrican't..

21. n apparatus of the general nature of that herein described, incombination, av pair of oplpositely disposed coacting cutting tools eachaving a plurality of cutters Whose side cutting edges are shapedsubstantially semicirculal'ly, ans for mounting said cutting tools sothat ike cuttinged s of one are in substantial alignment with likecutting edges of the other, and means for feeding a sheet of metal intooperative relation vand between' v'of movement -for a sheet of metal,means l mounting one of said cutters on one side of said path ofmovement, means mounting they cutters each adapted tqcut a slot, meansfore` other cutter on the other side of said ,pathI guiding a sheet ofmetal into .operative relaof movement and so that like cutting edgestion to said cutting tool, means for causing relative movement to takeplace between said cutting tooland sai-d sheetthereby to form aplurality-of spaced bars integral with said sheet, and meansv operativeprior to the movement of said sheet into operative relation to. saidcutting tool adapted to Hatten out and straighten said sheet thereby toinsure uniform cuttingact-ionof said plurality of cutters.u

19. In apparatus of the general nature of that herein; described,in'combina'tion, a cutting tool having a plurality of spaced cutterseach adapted to cut a slot, means for guiding.

means' foru causing relative movement to take place between said cuttingtool and said sheet thereby to form a plurality of spaced bars integralwith said. sheet, means for periodically interrupting the cutting actionof said cutting tool therebyl to form yin said of said'cutting tool arein substantial alignment with like cutting edges of said Vothercuttingvtool whereby each cutting tool is op# erative upon one side ofsaid sheet to form ,therein a plurality of substantially circular barsintegral with said sheet. r'

23. The herein described art of makingu grids for storage batteryplates, which consists in rotating at cutting speed a' pluralityofspaced rotary cutters each 'having a 'plurality of cutting teeth,Afeeding a ysheet of J,iiie'tall"passtiaid rotary cutter aand in main-"'.tain'ing anangular displacement between the teeth of saidplurality ofcutters so that at any-instant substantially onlyone tooth of a. cutteris operative upon said sheet.

24. The herein described art of making grids for storage battery plates,which-cont sists in rotating at cutting speed a plurality of spacedrotary cutting tools each having a plurality of spaced cutters of aplurality of aligned cutting teeth each, feeding a sheet of fmetal pastsaid cutting tools, and in main- '0 ing a plurality of substantiallyequally spaced cutting teeth, and means for feeding a sheet of metalpast said plurality of spaced. cutters, said plurality of spaced cuttersbeing angularly displaced from one another so that at any instantsubstantially only one tploth of each cutter is operative upon said seet.

26. In apparatus of the general nature of that herein described, incombination, a plurality of spaced rotary cutting tools each i having apluralityof spaced cutters and each of said cutters having a pluralityof subtool being 'substantially aligned.

stantia'lly equally rspaced cutting teeth, means for feeding/a sheet ofmetal past said plurality of -cutting tools, and means 'mount' ing saidplurality of rotary cutting tools -for rotation so as to maintain anangular displacement between the cutting `teeth of said plurality ofcutters, whereby substantially only ene row of aligned teeth of eachcutting tool is operative upon said sheet at any instant.

27. In apparatus of the general nature of that herein described, incombination, a plurality of spaced rotary cutting tools eachhaving aplurality 'of spaced cutters and each of said cutters having a pluralityof substantially equally spaced cutting teeth, the teeth of all of thecutters of e'achjcutting In testimony whereof, I have slgnedmy name tothis specification this second day of August,i1923.

THEODORE S. COLE.

